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PricewaterhouseCoopers reports 12% growth in UK turnover as management consulting revenues gain momentum     Strong growth in its Assurance business has lifted PricewaterhouseCoopers' UK turnover by nearly £200m, with the firm also reporting a 28% increase in revenues from its management consulting division.    PwC, Britain's largest accounting firm, reported a turnover of £1.78bn for the financial year to 30 June 2005, up 12% from last year. Average profit per partner was up 17% to £620,000.        Strong growth in the Assurance business of 18% was generated in particular by advice on International Financial Reporting Standards and Sarbanes-Oxley amounting to approximately £100m. Tax returned to healthy growth of 8% due to a strong focus on its chosen markets, an improved economy and a more settled regulatory environment.    "In a buoyant marketplace we performed strongly across the board," said Kieran     Poynter, the Chairman of PwC. "IFRS and Sarbanes-Oxley dominated the reporting and regulatory landscape for many of our clients and gave rise to a surge of growth for our Assurance business, though this is unlikely to be repeated."    Advisory, up 9%, enjoyed significant gains, in particular within Performance Improvement Consulting, which saw a 28% rise in turnover, offset by a 6% decline in Business     Recovery Services, reflecting the benign UK economy and counter cyclical nature of that business.    "It was also good to see our Performance Improvement Consulting advisory services benefiting from increased market awareness, a wide range of project wins and the continued recruitment and development of high quality, specialist partners and staff," said Poynter.    "Just under half the     firm's turnover continues to come from non-audit clients," he added.    The Performance Improvement Consulting division, with annual revenues which now exceed £100m, has been rebuilt since PwC sold its previous consulting arm to IBM in 2002. According to Poynter, unlike the old business, the consulting division won't be returning to IT implementation.

Top executives "left in the dark" on technology risks and opportunities, according to a new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit     Only four out of ten companies regularly brief the board on emerging technology opportunities and threats, according to a global survey of 127 senior executives conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and sponsored by Dimension Data and Oracle.    The research also shows that only half of companies regularly monitor emerging electronic security threats such as phishing and the risk of data     leaks.    The survey, published today in an Economist Intelligence Unit report called Staying ahead of the technology curve, sheds light on how effective companies are at identifying and exploiting emerging technologies.    The findings show that most executives are keen to use technology to help their companies to achieve a competitive edge, with 40% of respondents describing their firms as "early adopters" of technology.     new technology on their business.    However, in other areas the survey reveals important gaps in the way many companies attempt to identify and capitalise on emerging technology.    Only 52% of companies regularly keep track of competitors' technology initiatives, and only 55% monitor emerging IT infrastructure risks (such as exposure to systems downtime or failures). While 63% of companies analyse the potential impact of new     technology on their business, only 44% measure the value of technology once it is implemented.    The failure of almost half of companies to manage emerging cyber threats or vulnerabilities in their IT systems is particularly surprising, given that executives rate exposure to systems failure or digital security breaches as the area where advances in technologies pose the greatest threat.        The majority of companies (73%) also say they have people monitoring the emergence of new technologies, and 63% regularly analyse the potential impact of

Axon up on strong UK performance     Axon Group plc has reported a 51% increase in turnover for the first half of the year, helped by a "buoyant demand" for its services in the Public Sector, Utilities and Oil and Gas.    For the six-month period to 30 June 2005, turnover increased 51% to £40.4m and profit before tax increased 30% to £3.5m.    "These results have been driven by the relentless execution of     our strategy, namely to become a leader in the delivery of Business Transformation programmes for large organisations that use SAP as their strategic platform," said Mark Hunter, Chairman and Chief Executive.    The UK continues to be the growth engine of the business, as the group secured new business with organisations such as BP, Manchester City Council, Vodafone and     are preferred at London Borough of Harrow with the Capita partnership.    Axon continues to expand its international footprint. During the first half of 2005, it delivered customer solutions in 29 countries across the globe. Revenues from international business for the term increased by 36% to £9.8m (H1 2004: £7.2m).    In April 2005 Axon acquired Feanix Corporation, a leading     provider of SAP consulting services to the US Aerospace and Defence Industry. The company said the integration of Feanix has been completed ahead of schedule and the business is now winning contracts and has a significant pipeline of major opportunities.    Axon said it anticipates an improvement in margins over the coming period, as relative profitability for the     term fell due to the impacts of wage inflation, the build up of cost contingency for two major client projects and increased business development investment.    Axon has a positive outlook for the rest of the year and beyond. The company said it has a strong orderbook and a pipeline of major deals that it's seeking to win.

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